Nail stripper



E. J.' FOOTE NAIL STRIPPEB June 15, i418.

3 vSheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 17, 1945 l l 1 l l l 1 l z f l 1 INVENTORl .EZJFooZe JL/ITM HTTYS June15,1948. E J, FOOTE 2,443,498

NAU..4 STIPPER Filed Oct. 17, 1945 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. J. FOOTE NAIL sTRrPPER June l5, 1948.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed oct. 17, 1945 INVENTOR. .El J.' Fooe Patented June 15, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE NAIL STRIPPER Edward J. Foote, Benicia, Calif.

Application October 17, 1945, Serial No. 622,762

14 Claims. (Cl. 1-49.7)

This invention relates to improvements in nail strippers in which nails are alined and positioned ready for being grasped by the operator when nailing up boxes from box shook and like struc tures.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simple portable device for the purpose, and which may be readily assembled for use and readily adjustable to different sized nails; and one which can as readily be disassembled and compactly boxed ready for transportation.

These objects are accomplished by means lof such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the device as set up and assembled ready for use.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device as disassembled and boxed ready for transport.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the stripper unit per se.

Figure 4 is a sectional view ofthe stripper mechanism per se, taken on a line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a detached sectional view of the means for fastening the final stripping wires to the positioning plates.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the feed tray.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a stripper Wire unit.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, thenumeral I designates a relatively shallow box consisting of a body portion 2 and a cover portion 3 hinged together at one edge, as at 4, and adapted when closed together to be fastened by any desired form of latch 5. The box would be provided with any desired form of transport handle or grip 6.

In the body portion 2 is usually disposed a tray 1 adapted to hold a supply of nails, and which tray I is provided with a handle 8 whereby it may be readily lifted out and returned to the body.

The side edges of the body 2 are provided with upwardly projecting flanges 9. The cover 3 has corresponding recesses II) so that when the cover is closed onto the body, the anges 9 will be received into said recesses and thereby completely enclose the interior of the box. An arm II is pvoted on one of the anges 9, Vand at its outer end is provided with a notch I2 adapted to t over one or the other of pins I3 and I4 in order to hold the cover 3 open in different out of the box into the position shown in Fig. l.v

When in the latter position the box I1 is detachablyfconnected with the feed tray I8. This feed tray I8 is lhingedly mounted to the inside of the cover 3, as at I9, so that it may be either folded into the cover, as shown in Fig. 2, or extended for connection to the box I'I, as shown in Fig. 1. When both the box I 'I and tray I8 are extended, as shown, they are fastened together by the engagement of spring fingers 20 on the tray I8 being brought into engagement with oriflces 2l in the sidewalls of the box I1, and at a point adjacent the then upper edge of the latter, whereby nails placed in the tray I8 will feed by gravity downwardly into the box I'I. The relative inclination'of the tray I8 with respect to the box I'I may be adjusted by screw clamps 22 slidable in slots 23 in the cover 3, and to which clamps the hinges I9 are secured.

The front of the box II is open and the side and end walls of the box I'I are made of relatively thin flexible sheet metal. The bottom of the box I'I is formed of a plurality of elongated, inverted V-shaped plates 24 which, at their lower edges, are slightly spaced apart to form slots 25.

The back ends of the plates 24 are secured to the end wall of the box, and the two outer plates are secured to the side walls of the box; the slots 25 opening through the open front end of such box. Reinforcing wires 26 extend along the free edges of the plates 24 adjacent the slots 25, and at the open ends of the latter curve away from each other, as at 21, to form a flaring discharge outlet from each slot.

Secured to the bottom of each plate 24 is a relatively rigid arm 28. Each arm 28 is provided at its upper end with a U-shaped yoke 29. Within each yoke 29 is a knurled thumb nut 38; the several thumb nuts being mounted upon a threaded rod 3I. By movement of the thumb nuts 30 along the threaded rod 3l the arms 28 may be relatively moved so as to adjust the size of the slots 25. This adjustment is very slight, and is permitted of by reason of the resiliency of the metal constituting the side walls and end of the box I1.

Each of the arms 28 is fastened to its respective plate 24 by means of laterally diverging flanges 32 which are fastened to the bottom of the corresponding plate 2l! by means of small nuts and bolts 33. A hook plate 34 is fastened to the flanges 32, and therefore also to the bottom of each plate 24, by means of the` nuts and bolts 33.

Stripper Wire units 35 are supported on the hook plates 34. Each such unit comprises a pair of substantially parallel wires 3G having convergl ing outer ends 3'! connected by a latch Wire" which engages one of the hook platesd, and is.

Outwardly from thev throats i-thewires-'d-of' adjacent stripper-wire units lie inparallelism substantially asshown in Fig. 3 to-f'orrnvintermediate slotsiil; One'wire 35 ofeachstripper wire unit 35 is-fixed'atv its outer end in thelrodwl, as

at 4l, while the oppositewire-is-1 provided at its outer` endwith a'hook @l2 which detachably` en"- gages a shouldered groove-43A ona thumb nut All" threaded on the threaded rod* |51 The w-ires'off the stripping units -35are relatively flexible, and it will therefore'be obviousthat the Wire of one unit4 which is mounted onthe thumb nut lldmay'be relativelyadjustedwith respect tothe wireon the adjacent unit which is flxed tofthe rodlwherebyto adjust th'esiz'e of the slot 40.

@parution use, the apparatus is Ynormally enclosed within the box asshown in Fig; 2. When the operator arrivesatv the point where he wishes' t'o. make use of the apparatus hey unlatches theV coverv 3Afrom.the bottoInE and opens the cover. 3 andisecures the same inopen positionwith the arm H. He thenI lifts the tray I8- and box Il and latchesv them together throughv the medium of thefspring ngers 2). In doing this headjustsy the relative. anglesthereofiaccording to the size of nails-thathe is going touse andthespeed at whichI he wishes theY nails to feed,. by moving.. the screw clam-ps 22 along the. slotsZS, and he may also make further adjustment by engaging the notch I2 in one or the other of the pins I3-l4.

When the apparaftusis set toV the desired angles a supplyl of nails is poured into. the supply tray l. The operator thentakesthistray and. empties it intothe tray I8.v Thereupon the nails slide down where they may be temporarily helid by means kof aremovable block 45 wedged be-r tween converging side blocks 4'6" on the ,lowerV end of the tray IB. When the operatoris ready to commence nailing he removes the block 415i', and the :nails then slide outv of the tray'k LB through its ope-n 4end and into the positioning box IT'. In this box, which .is inclined at this time, the nails slide by gravity in the V-shaped troughs formed by the .inverted V-plates 2G, and in doing this a portion of them fall into the slots 25with their points headed down .and their 'heads' up; 'Those nails which do not thus position themselves flow over the .open end of the b'oX Ilr and fal-l back between the wires 36 into theV supply tray 1.

Those nails which are positioned in the slots 25 then slide by gravity and out the flared ends of the wires 25 into the throats 39 and hence into the stripping slots ed, coming to rest against the rod l5. The operator then grasps such proportion of these nails as he wishes out of one of the slots lill and withdraws them through the corresponding throat 39 for nailing in the usual manner.

For nails. of different gauges the slots 25 and 40 may be adjusted through the adjustment of the thumb screws 3e and 44. The action of the thumb screws 3@ will adjust the lower ends of the slotsZd and the upper ends of the slots il@ simultaneously, and then the lower ends of the slots 15T may be adjusted to conform thereto throughthe movement of the thumb screws 44.

Iffor any reason the operator desires to make a change as to the stripper units 35 all he need do is to loosen the nut and bolt units 33 and unhook the latch hooks te therefromand then .release thevhooks d2 from the iiangedgrooves 153.

When the operator is finished with any one nailing job he may disconnect the several parts by reversing the connecting operation and then fold them all-back into the box ready for transport.

Fromthe foregoing description it will be readily seenthatthere hasbeen produced such ade.- viceas substantially fullls the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While-this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction ofthe device, still in Vpractice suchdeviations from such detail may be resorted to as do-not form a` departure from thev spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, thefollowingY is* claimed asV new andk useful and upon which Letters Patent are desired:

l. A nailL stripper-comprising a box which includesa main body a cover, the oever being hinged lto the body at one end, a nail feed' tray hinged to the cover and normally enclosed thereby, anail .stripping unitnormally hinged tothe body and enclosed.y thereby, and mean-s for connecting theytra-y and' stripper unit together in angular relation when the cover is opened relan tive toA the body; the trayhaving. an openend f'cr'discharging nails therefrom into the stripper unit.

2. A device as in claim 1 and including means for-adjusting the relative angul-arity between the tray Iand unit.

Adevice as in claim i. in which the cover is provided with a slot, the `tray hinge being longitudinally-adjustable along the length of the slot.

4'; A device as in claim l and including, in further combination therewith, a nail supply tray normally disposed in and enclosed by the body, and into which nails discharge from the stripper unit whenthe latter is in its angular position.

5. A nai-l' stripper comprising `a box including a body and a cover hinged there-to at one end, means fer holding the cover open at substantial-ly righ-t angles to the body, a nail feed tra-y hinged to and normally enclosed by the cover, a nai-l strippinT uni-t hinged toA and normally Yenclosed' ybythe body, spring fingers on the free end of the tray, orifices adjacent the free end of the unit, the -ngers being engageable with the orifices se vthat the tray and unit may be joined together in relative angular relation when the .cover is supportedat Isubstantial :right angles to the body.

6. A device as in claim 1 in which the pivotal means between the unit and the body comprises a threaded rod, and arms rigidly iixed to the rod; the outer ends of the rods being rigidly connected to the stripper unit.

7. A nail stripper lcomprising a support, a threaded rod Iturnably mounted in the support, arms rigidly fixed to the rod, a nail positioning box iixed -to ythe arms, Ithe positioning box being open ,at its front end and the side and end walls thereof being formed of relatively thin iiexible metal, the bottom of the box comprising inverted V-shaped plates fixed to the back end of the box land being spaced apart along their lower edges -to form slots, which slots open :through the front end of the box, means for adjusting the plates relative to eachother to vary the size of the slots, and stripping elements in alinement with each slot, such stripping elements being supported be- Itween `the bottom of the box and said rod.

8. A device as in claim 7 in which lthe stripping elements comprise wires spaced apart to form slots which are in register with the slots in the box.

9. A device as in claim 7 in which the stripping elements comprise wires spaced apart to form slots which are in register with the slots in the box, and means for adjusting the posi-tion of the wires to vary the size of the slots between the same.

10. A device as in claim 7 in which the stripping elements comprise wires spaced apar-t to form slots which are in register with ythe slots in the box, and means for adjusting the position of the wires to vary the size of -the slots between the same, such means including thumb nuts threaded upon the rod, one wire of each stripping element being mounted on a thumb nut and the adjacent wire being fixed to the rod.

11. A device as in claim 7 in which .the adjusting means comprises a threaded rod supported above the open end of the box, thumbnuts threaded on said last named rod, and larms mounted on the thumb nuts, each arm being connected to the forward end of one of the `plates.

12. A nail stripper comprising a support, a threaded rod turnably mounted in the support, a nail stripper unit fixed to the rod turnable therewith to an inclined position, means to hold the unit in such inclined position, such unit including a pair of larms fixed to the rod, a nail positioning box fixed to the outer ends of the arms, the front end of the box being open and spaced fromA the rod, the sides and back of the box being made of relatively thin flexible metal, the bottom of .the box consisting of a number of inverted V-shaped plates spaced apart along their adjacent lower edges to form slots, a threaded rod supported from the box adjacent the front end thereof, thumb nuts mounted on the last named rod, arms connected with the thumb nuts, each arm being fixed to the forward end of one of said plates, thumb nuts mounted on the first named rod, a wire fixed to each plate adjacent one end thereof and extending to and connected with one of the thumb nuts on the rst named rod, and another wire xed to the plate adjacent the plate on which the first named wire is secured and extending therefrom land being fixed to the first named rod in closely spaced relation to the first wire whereby each pair of wires forms a slot therebetween in register with the slot between the plates to which .the wires are secured.

l13. A structure as in claim l12 in which the upper ends of the adjacent wires flare aapart to form a throat through which nails may be withdrawn from the slot between the corresponding wires.

14. In a nail stripper of the type comprising a base, Ian upright supported thereon, an upper declining slide to receive in bulk n-ails to be stripped, a declining lower slide beneath the depressed end of the upper slide to receive nails falling from the depressed end of the upper slide, the improvement of means freely .tiltably suspending the lower slide from Ithe upper slide in conjunction with a framework on the lower slide extending beyond the depressed end of the lower slide toward and to a point in spaced relation to said upright, said framework including nail slides, and an adjustable brace rod pivoted at its lower end to the lower end of the framework and selectively securable at, its upper end to any one of a plurality of vertically spaced portions on the upright so as to determine and fix the angle of declination of said lower slide and nail slides.

EDWARD J. FOOTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,221,736 Holland Apr. 3, 1917 1,269,544 Marshall June 11, 1918 

